The Romany song and dance group Romane Chave
will perform for Dutch Queen Beatrix during the celebrations of her
birthday in April, Vsetin City Hall spokeswoman Eva Stejskalova told CTK
today. Vsetin City Hall contributed 7,000 crowns to the group's trip.
The group will leave on April 28 with members of Romprojekt. "The
participation of the Romany group is not just a presentation of Romany
culture, but also of the city of Vsetin. It is better for all of us that
young Romanies spend their spare time practicing dance than bothering
clinic visitors or other negative things. That is why we decided to
financially support this interest," Vsetin Mayor Jiri Cunek said. The
group was founded several years ago by Koloman Gadzor. It has performed
across the Czech Republic and Slovakia since then. As part of
Romprojekt, a joint project of the Vsetin employment office, Vsetin and
near-by Valasske Mezirici city halls, and the Office for Ethnic
Minorities in the Netherlands, the group presented itself to the Dutch
partners in October. "They were so impressed by the group, that they
invited them to the Netherlands," Stejskalova said. Gadzor said that the
group is hard at work preparing a new number that it will perform.
($1=27.171 crowns)